- Why the CAQ-CVTS Exam Has No Fixed Calendar
- The Candidate Timeline at a Glance
- What Must Be True Before You Apply
- Fees and Registration Mechanics
- Appointment Length and Test-Day Format
- Score Release and the 90-Day Attestation Window
- The Six-Year Completion Clock
- Backward-Planning Your Preparation Around the Blueprint
- Maintenance and Renewal Timing
- Frequently Asked Questions
- The initial CAQ exam is delivered at Pearson VUE test centers; confirm current availability and windows with NCCPA before planning.
- Total initial cost is $350: a $100 registration/administrative fee plus a $250 examination fee.
- Scores are generally released eight to ten weeks after administration, following validation.
- Collaborating physician or lead PA attestation can come before the exam or within 90 days after score notification.
Why the CAQ-CVTS Exam Has No Fixed Calendar
Candidates searching for "CVTS exam dates 2026" often expect a published list of test days, like a single national sitting. For the Certificate of Added Qualifications in Cardiovascular and Thoracic Surgery, the practical reality is different. The credential is issued by the National Commission on Certification of Physician Assistants (NCCPA), it supplements your PA-C, and the initial exam is delivered through Pearson VUE test centers. That means your real "date" is an appointment you secure after NCCPA approves your application, not a fixed calendar entry you register for months in advance.
The year in this article's title is an editorial publication year. It does not signal a new exam version, and NCCPA's content blueprint for this specialty is an undated document, so you should not infer a version year from its URL. What matters for planning is the sequence of steps, the clocks that run alongside them, and the items NCCPA itself controls: application review, appointment availability, score validation, and award.
The Candidate Timeline at a Glance
Think of the CAQ-CVTS as a process with several dated milestones rather than one exam day. The table below maps each milestone to what is known from NCCPA's published policies.
| Milestone | What Happens | Timing Rule |
|---|---|---|
| Qualify | Hold current PA-C, unrestricted licensure, and meet experience and CME thresholds | Experience and CME counted within six years |
| Apply | Submit application and pay fees | $100 registration/administrative fee plus $250 exam fee |
| Schedule | Book a Pearson VUE appointment once approved | Depends on NCCPA approval and test-center availability |
| Test | 120 multiple-choice questions in two 60-question blocks | 2.5-hour appointment allocation |
| Score release | NCCPA validates and releases results | Generally eight to ten weeks after administration |
| Attestation | Collaborating physician or lead/senior PA attests to knowledge and skills | May precede exam or arrive within 90 days after score notification |
| Award | Passing result plus all non-exam requirements | Entire process completed within six years of initiation |
For a deeper look at the eligibility side of this table, see our guide to CVTS requirements, prerequisites, and how to qualify.
What Must Be True Before You Apply
Your scheduling flexibility is only as good as your eligibility file. Several requirements have their own look-back windows, so the date you apply matters as much as the date you test.
Credential and licensure
You need a current PA-C and an unrestricted PA license in a U.S. jurisdiction, or unrestricted government-agency PA practice privileges. If you hold more than one license, every license you hold must be unrestricted. A restriction on any one of them is a scheduling problem you want to discover early, not on the week you planned to test.
Experience and CME clocks
Two look-back windows run against your application:
- Surgical experience: 4,000 hours of cardiovascular/thoracic surgical PA experience within six years before you attest that the experience requirement has been satisfied.
- Specialty CME: 75 specialty-focused Category I CME credits within six years before exam application, including at least 25 within the preceding two years.
That two-year sub-requirement is the one most likely to catch candidates who front-loaded their CME. If your most recent specialty credits are older than two years, you may need to earn additional credits before your application is eligible. ACLS and relevant perioperative or critical-care CME are recommendations, not additional mandatory course requirements.
Fees and Registration Mechanics
The initial examination costs $350 in total, made up of two parts:
- A $100 registration/administrative fee
- A $250 examination fee
Budget this at application time rather than treating it as a test-day cost. NCCPA's optional practice examination is a separate $50 purchase, and it is worth buying early enough that its 180-day completion window fits comfortably inside your preparation period. For a fuller view of every line item, read our CVTS certification cost breakdown.
Appointment Length and Test-Day Format
When you book your Pearson VUE slot, you are reserving a 2.5-hour appointment allocation. Inside that time, the structure is fixed:
- A 15-minute tutorial
- Block one: 60 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes
- A 15-minute break
- Block two: 60 multiple-choice questions in 60 minutes
The exam is closed book. Personal books, notes, and calculators are prohibited. Critically, a completed block cannot be reopened, so you cannot return to block-one questions during block two. Pace yourself at roughly one minute per question and make your final decisions before you submit each block.
Key Takeaway
Choose an appointment time when you are mentally sharpest, not simply the first open slot. Two uninterrupted 60-minute blocks with no ability to revisit answers reward a rested, well-paced candidate. Review the official What to Expect on Test Day document before your appointment.
If you are weighing how demanding that format is, our piece on how hard the CVTS exam is walks through the question style and what candidates tend to find challenging.
Score Release and the 90-Day Attestation Window
NCCPA releases scores after validation, generally eight to ten weeks after administration. Do not plan on a same-day or same-week result. If your employer, credentialing office, or job application depends on the CAQ, build that lag into your timeline.
Two things must be true for the certificate to be awarded: a passing NCCPA specialty-exam result and completion of all non-exam requirements. The attestation is a competency attestation by your collaborating physician or lead/senior PA, not a separate timed practical exam. It can be submitted before you test or within 90 days after score notification, so you have meaningful flexibility, but the 90-day clock after notification is a real deadline you should calendar the day your result arrives.
NCCPA has not publicly verified a numeric passing threshold or an official specialty-specific pass rate, and commercial claims should be treated cautiously. For what is and is not known, see our pages on the CVTS passing score and CVTS pass rate.
The Six-Year Completion Clock
The initial CAQ process must be completed within six years after initiation. This is separate from, and easy to confuse with, the six-year look-back windows for experience and CME. One governs how old your qualifying activity can be; the other governs how long you have to finish once you start. If you begin the process and then stall on the exam or attestation, the clock keeps running.
For most candidates this is generous, but it matters if you expect to test, fall short, and need additional preparation time. Plan your first attempt as though you want it to be your only one, and keep a record of your initiation date.
Backward-Planning Your Preparation Around the Blueprint
Once you have a target appointment, work backward from it using the exam's official weighting. The content blueprint lists five medical content categories:
Cardiac (38%)
The single largest category, so it deserves the longest block of your calendar and the earliest start.
Thoracic (28%)
The second largest. Schedule it right after Cardiac while operative and perioperative concepts are fresh.
Critical Care (19%)
Postoperative management and ICU-level reasoning, a natural bridge between the surgical domains.
Vascular (10%)
Smaller in weight but not trivial; the blueprint uses 10%, not the older 5% shown in the 2021 sample-question annotations.
Legal/Ethical Issues and Emerging Topics (5%)
The lightest category, best handled in a short final review pass.
Note that the blueprint separately weights cross-cutting tasks, such as Ordering and Interpreting Diagnostic and Laboratory Studies (20%), Clinical Intervention (20%), and Pharmacotherapy (20%). These are a second classification of the same questions, not extra domains, so do not add them to the medical-content percentages. Our complete domains guide unpacks both classifications.
One scheduling model that fits those weights, for a candidate with roughly eight weeks before the appointment:
Cardiac
- Largest weight, so start here while your energy is highest
- Pair with NCCPA's sample questions and critiques
Thoracic
- Second-largest category
- Keep a running list of weak areas for later review
Critical Care and Vascular
- Group the two because postoperative and vascular reasoning often overlap
- Take the optional $50 practice exam here to calibrate
Legal/Ethical and full review
- Short pass on the 5% category
- Spend the rest on weak spots surfaced by the practice exam
Keep in mind that NCCPA states the practice exam's feedback is educational and does not predict an exam pass. Use it to find gaps, not to forecast your result. For resources and sequencing beyond this outline, see our CVTS study guide and the one-page CVTS cheat sheet. When you want timed question practice, our CVTS practice test site is built around the same domain structure.
Maintenance and Renewal Timing
The certificate is valid for ten years, conditional on maintaining your PA-C and licensure. Renewal requires 125 specialty Category I CME credits earned during the cycle and submitted by the renewal-exam application, plus passing the specialty examination.
Under the May 2026 governing policy, you have three maintenance-exam attempts during years nine and ten, and an earlier pass can reset the ten-year cycle. Maintenance may be taken at a test center or as a distinct online examination, which has its own rules:
- 120 questions with five minutes per question
- An approximately six-week completion window
- Printed and online references permitted, but independent work required
Those open-reference conditions apply to online maintenance only. They are not initial-exam conditions, so do not carry that expectation into your first attempt.
If you are considering whether the whole path is worth the calendar and cost, our analysis of whether the CVTS certification is worth it takes a measured view and does not assume a pay premium.
Frequently Asked Questions
The initial exam is delivered at Pearson VUE test centers, so your date is an appointment you book after NCCPA approves your application. Confirm current windows and availability directly with NCCPA.
NCCPA releases scores after validation, generally eight to ten weeks after administration. Build that lag into any employer or credentialing deadline.
Attestation may precede the exam or arrive within 90 days after score notification. It is a competency attestation, not a separate timed practical exam, and the award requires both a passing result and all non-exam requirements.
The initial process must be completed within six years after initiation. This is distinct from the six-year look-back windows used for your surgical experience hours and specialty CME.
Expect 120 multiple-choice questions in two 60-question, 60-minute blocks within a 2.5-hour appointment that includes a 15-minute tutorial and 15-minute break. The exam is closed book, and a completed block cannot be reopened.
For background on the credential itself, you can also read what the CVTS certification is and how it supplements your PA-C.